SAHA has installed an exhibition in the Ramparts at Constitution Hill, entitled The Battle against Forgetting: Human Rights and the Unfinished Business of the TRC. The exhibition’s core focus is to reflect upon the unfinished business of the TRC, and the various ways in which many victims of apartheid-era gross human rights violations continue to struggle to overcome those social, economic or institutional abuses of rights partially but ultimately inadequately addressed by the TRC.
At the centre of this exhibition is the SAHA / SABC Truth Commission Special Report multimedia product, built around the 87-part 'Truth Commission Special Report' television series, originally broadcast by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) every week between 21 April 1996 and 29 March 1998, which offers invaluable insights into the work of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) during this period.
Presented in an accessible manner - by providing context to public hearings through historic audio-visual material and exclusive interviews with victims, perpetrators, witnesses, specialists in a given field, and more - the series contributed to the TRC's pursuit of revealing the truth about, and engendering a deeper engagement with, South Africa's past conflicts.
The aim of this multimedia product is to make the work of the TRC more accessible, to enrich history and heritage education, and to support ongoing transitional justice and reconciliation work in South Africa. All episodes of the television series have now been catalogued, transcribed, indexed and linked to relevant sections of the official TRC Final Report, transcripts from TRC hearings, amnesty decisions, submissions made to the TRC and other related resources, to form a seamless viewable and searchable resource.
Learn more about the Truth Commission Special Report Multimedia Product.
SAHA has also produced a booklet titled The Battle against Forgetting: Human Rights and the Unfinished Business of the TRC, which draws on the exhibition to support history educators and learners explore this critical period of our country’s past.
Learn more about this booklet
SAHA and the TRC
Materials produced and collected around the South African TRC constitute a rich resource for social memory, both in South Africa and internationally.This includes
Visit SAHA's TRC Archives Project.
SAHA Collections and the TRC
Reflecting SAHA's commitment to justice and accountability in South Africa, SAHA has actively collected archival materials relating to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
Visit SAHA's collections related to the TRC
